Morning in March
Morning
in March
My heart
an oystercatcher
Flying
to you
Morgun í mars
Morgun
í mars
Hjartað
eitt tjaldur
Flýgur
til tín
Morgen i marts
Morgen
i marts
Hjertet
en strandskade
Flyver
til dig
Danish translation by Guðrið Helmsdal
English translation by Randi Ward
Author portrait photo: Randi Ward
Bio blurb:
Guðrið Helmsdal was born in Tórshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands, in 1941. She became the first Faroese woman to publish a volume of poetry written in the Faroese language when her book, Lýtt lot, appeared in 1963. Her debut collection’s uncanny precision of image, and shift to a more personal poetics, signaled a modernist breakthrough in Faroese literature. When Helmsdal received the M.A. Jacobsen Literature Award in 1974, the Faroese committee wrote: “Lýtt lot and Morgun í mars have opened a new chapter in Faroese literary history by blazing a trail for women’s literature in the Faroe Islands”. Guðrið Helmsdal’s most recent bilingual collection, Stjørnuakrar-Sternenfelder, was published in Germany in 2006.
Video:
Helmsdal’s poem, «Morgun í Mars,» serves as the refrain for this song of the same name by Faroese singer-songwriter Guðrið Hansdóttir. «Morgun í Mars» was released on Hansdóttir’s album, Beyond The Grey (2011).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42XEl5w2QSY
Music: Guðrið Hansdóttir Lyrics: Guðrið Hansdóttir, Guðrið Helmsdal, Randi Ward